Pennsylvania and its neighbors are bursting with tradition, legends, tall tales and ghosts. Each week we'll introduce one or two of their strange and spooky stories to you. Click on
Pennsylvania Haunts and History to get to our website's home page.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The famous Ghost Town Trail stretches 20 miles from Dilltown in Indiana County to Nanty Glo in Cambria County. It's top attraction is the Eliza Furnace that produced gobs of iron and a few bucks from 1846-49 for owners David Ritter and George Rodgers. Its' Vintondale location is on the National Register of Historic Sites.

And old historical spook David Ritter still roams the oven area. He hung himself in the furnace because:
a) his wife ran off with George Rodgers,
b) he was distraught over impending financial ruin,
c) his son fell into the furnace and died, or
d) all of the above.

Whether one reason stood out or they combined to push him over the edge, Rodgers decided to end it all. Sightings of his spook around the oven have been reported many times by tourists and hikers. Some say that you can even see him hanging in the furnace if your timing's right.

If you're really lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the Lady In White who haunts the Trail around nearby Bracken. She's a jilted ghost girl forlornly looking for her lost sweetie.

These tales and many others are spun in Ghost Stories From the Ghost Trail by C.L. Shore.